A three-part docuseries examines the murder of John Lennon 43 years ago this week. Squid Game: The Challenge enters the final round with only three players remaining. The spy thriller Slow Horses shifts into high gear when a rogue agent turns the tables on the U.K. government. Quantum Leap sends its hero back to 1692 for a witch trial.
Apple TV+
John Lennon: Murder Without a Trial
On Dec. 8, 1980, the world grieved when an assassin’s bullets ended the life of famed Beatle John Lennon at the entrance of his home in the Dakota. A three-part docuseries, narrated by Kiefer Sutherland, features interviews with eyewitnesses and reviews previously unseen files for a fresh look at the investigation into the murder and the conviction of his confessed killer, Mark David Chapman.
Courtesy of Netflix
Squid Game: The Challenge
What nefarious game awaits the final three players in the last round of the reality competition based on the hit Korean series? Mai, Phill and Sam have outlasted 453 others, surviving games that tested their will and character and even the randomness of a dice throw. In the final episode, the playing field goes from three to two to one, with the winner reaping that giant ball of cash totaling $4.65 million.
Apple TV+
Slow Horses
This wry spy thriller is at its best when things couldn’t go worse. And so it goes when the “tiger team” that kidnapped Slough House office manager Catherine Standish (Saskia Reeves) as a security exercise goes rogue, turning the tables on the smug Home Secretary (All Creatures Great and Small’s Samuel West) who had been scheming to put all of MI5 under the thumb of his preferred private-sector mercenary group. Watching the mayhem escalate with gruff bemusement, the unruly Jackson Lamb (Gary Oldman) will need to get his “slow horses” in line, including the battered and bruised River (Jack Lowden), to rescue Catherine and save the reputation of the spy agency that did them all wrong.
Quantum Leap
Ben (Raymond Lee) takes his most giant leap yet—to 1692—where he ends up on trial for witchcraft. (I recently endured a similar time-travel storyline with Victoria Winters in my ongoing Dark Shadows re-watch.) The Quantum team faces one of its greatest challenges, working with limited online resources to find a way to save Ben before he’s put to death. Followed by Magnum P.I. (9/8c), where HPD detective Katsumoto (Tim Kang) turns to Magnum (Jay Hernandez) for help to put away a killer who managed to escape justice at trial.
INSIDE WEDNESDAY TV:
- The Masked Singer (8/7c, Fox): Bret Michaels, the “Bandana Banana” from Season 3, returns to perform during the “I Wanna Rock” episode, where finalists in Group B rock out to songs from Kiss and Bon Jovi before two are unmasked.
- 2024 Republican Presidential Primary Debate (8 pm/ET, NewsNation and The CW): And then there were four. The latest GOP debate of presidential hopefuls, from the University of Alabama, features Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former governors Nikki Haley and Chris Christie and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy. Moderators include SiriusXM’s Megyn Kelly, formerly of Fox News and NBC; NewsNation’s Elizabeth Vargas, formerly of ABC; and The Free Beacon editor-in-chief Eliana Johnson.
- SurrealEstate (10/9c, Syfy): In the supernatural drama’s Season 2 finale, the Roman Agency welcomes back Susan (Sarah Levy), only to realize she’s not quite herself.
- Cities of Success (10/9c, CNBC): A quarterly series spotlights cities that have transformed themselves into hubs of commerce. The opener heads to Nashville, which has grown far beyond its Music City roots.
ON THE STREAM:
- We Live Here: The Midwest (streaming on Hulu): A documentary travels to America’s heartland—Kansas, Nebraska, Minnesota, Ohio—to profile queer families facing discrimination and hate in communities where they have deep roots and would prefer not to have to leave.
- Hollywood Houselift with Jeff Lewis (streaming on Amazon Freevee): The former Flipping Out reality star is back for a second season of celebrity home renovations, with new clients including Anthony Anderson, Kate Bosworth, Josh Duhamel, Regina Hall, Christina Ricci and Gina Rodriguez.
- The Santa Clauses (streaming on Disney+): The elves defend their North Pole home against Mad Santa (Eric Stonestreet) and Olga (Marta Kessler) in the Season 2 finale.
- Black Cake (streaming on Hulu): The series, based on Charmaine Wilkerson’s novel, ends with Benny (Adrienne Warren) and Byron (Ashley Thomas) finally learning the truth about the murder on the night of their late mother’s wedding.